How much oregano is good for chickens?

[Quailnewbiee]

This works for me and it's amazing....
It's oregano... little bit of basil... a little bit of black pepper... white pepper if you prefer. Add this to a nice hot tea of carrots, celery, onions, and copious amounts of garlic.
Oh,and garlic is also an antibacterial.
Ease the chicken into a warm hot bath of this tea, slightly raising the temperature to boiling point, and cover.

This is great for colds and those cloudy rainy days.

when I got to the onions I finally realized... it’s not to help out poor chicks! rather help us! but you definitely had me! I was wondering about basil, and pepper!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

As Paracelsus observed roughly 500 years ago, "the dosage is the poison".

There is a small, but generally positive, body of research, on the use of oregano (and somewhat less on the use of thyme) or its oil in chicken feed for reducing average bacterial load in the short term. There is, to the best of my knowledge, no long term study. It is entirely possible that routine dosing of a given amount of the active ingredients contained in oregano (or thyme) will simply select for bacteria and other parasites best able to tolerate it, just as acidifying your water via ACV simply selects for differing bacteria in your chicken's gut and has declining effectiveness over time (as well as being highly dependent upon the initial pH of your water - much like shocking a pool with chlorine).

The problem with feeding natural oregano (or most OTC oregano oils) is that you have absolutely no idea what the concentration is of the active ingredients, and therefore can not dose effectively or consistently. Its magical thinking to believe otherwise. That said, in reasonable quantities, there is no effective downside to your chickens eating oregano, or thyme, or a host of other plants should they desire to do so. My flock routinely snatches leaves of my oregano plant from my raised bed where it pokes through the fencing. Does it help??? There is a remote possibility that it might. Does it hurt? Nope.

Do I count on it as part of an effective parasite/bateria/etc control system??? Not a snowball's chance in the Phlegethon. [that's the "River of Fire" in Hades, for those of you not familiar]

I am unfamiliar with any studies as to how much oregano a chicken can consume before it begins to affect the flavor of the egg. "Taste" studies are notoriously unreliable, and highly personalized to both palatte and cultural culinary experience.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

See for instance:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7411182/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12866780/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25864115/

 

[Miami Leghorn]

As Paracelsus observed roughly 500 years ago, "the dosage is the poison".

There is a small, but generally positive, body of research, on the use of oregano (and somewhat less on the use of thyme) or its oil in chicken feed for reducing average bacterial load in the short term. There is, to the best of my knowledge, no long term study. It is entirely possible that routine dosing of a given amount of the active ingredients contained in oregano (or thyme) will simply select for bacteria and other parasites best able to tolerate it, just as acidifying your water via ACV simply selects for differing bacteria in your chicken's gut and has declining effectiveness over time (as well as being highly dependent upon the initial pH of your water - much like shocking a pool with chlorine).

The problem with feeding natural oregano (or most OTC oregano oils) is that you have absolutely no idea what the concentration is of the active ingredients, and therefore can not dose effectively or consistently. Its magical thinking to believe otherwise. That said, in reasonable quantities, there is no effective downside to your chickens eating oregano, or thyme, or a host of other plants should they desire to do so. My flock routinely snatches leaves of my oregano plant from my raised bed where it pokes through the fencing. Does it help??? There is a remote possibility that it might. Does it hurt? Nope.

Do I count on it as part of an effective parasite/bateria/etc control system??? Not a snowball's chance in the Phlegethon. [that's the "River of Fire" in Hades, for those of you not familiar]

I am unfamiliar with any studies as to how much oregano a chicken can consume before it begins to affect the flavor of the egg. "Taste" studies are notoriously unreliable, and highly personalized to both palatte and cultural culinary experience.

I had a good buddy that would stuff oregano in his pipe always citing the magical properties within oregano..he was always relaxed always in a good mood don't know what it was I'm thinking maybe it was something besides oregano in there what do I know.

 

[cajebrso]

In case it is helpful, we had a poultry vet out last week, and he suggested adding oregano oil to their diet. He has been raising and study chickens his whole life, inc a graduate degree in poultry science and a vet degree, so I trust him and will be looking into that. I don’t have recommended dosage though as I need to check on that.

 

[Double Yolked]

Some 20 plus years ago I had oregano growing in several herb beds. It did what strong vital herbs sometimes do. It jumped the fence and took off running! I wasn't as quick on weeding as I should have been and soon I had oregano running wild everywhere on the property. After a few years of trying to get it under control I gave up and let it run.
My hens have nibbled on it off and on ever since I got them, no "weird taste" to the eggs, but also no serious love for the herb as a hen snack. If you believe it may be a life improvement for the hens then give them as much as you like, they'll self regulate nicely. I'd plant some (carefully) where they can get it fresh and see how they like it. My ladies did prefer the golden yellow variety over the more common stuff.

 

[PeeperKeeper15]

It is a natural antibiotic

The egg taste isn't effected

Not being rude, just stating facts

There’s a farmer in Pennsylvania that uses for his chickens, oregano oil and cinnamon. Together it’s an anti-bacterial antiparasitic. I read studies have proven it to work on other farm animals as well. I feed my chickens Nutrena but I’m not sure what the actual amount of oregano oil is in the feed. I am looking into getting some oregano oil and cinnamon and putting it in their drinking water. I do put a mix of dried herbs in their nesting boxes and I know my chickens love it. It smells like lasagna As far as taste goes, I’d try it out in my chickens water and decide if the egg’s flavor has been affected by the oregano oil then weigh the benefits to risks. I do supplement with oyster shell and grit and their eggshells are consistent.

 

[Pampered chicken girl]

There’s a farmer in Pennsylvania that uses for his chickens, oregano oil and cinnamon. Together it’s an anti-bacterial antiparasitic. I read studies have proven it to work on other farm animals as well. I feed my chickens Nutrena but I’m not sure what the actual amount of oregano oil is in the feed. I am looking into getting some oregano oil and cinnamon and putting it in their drinking water. I do put a mix of dried herbs in their nesting boxes and I know my chickens love it. It smells like lasagna As far as taste goes, I’d try it out in my chickens water and decide if the egg’s flavor has been affected by the oregano oil then weigh the benefits to risks. I do supplement with oyster shell and grit and their eggshells are consistent.

I never have egg taste problems! Always tastes normal

 

[Cindy in PA]

Not sure if it was mentioned here, but Ropadiar by Ropa Pharm has been used by commercial outfits like Bell & Evans for several years. The stuff is not cheap & I doubt a for profit business would use it without seeing results. I know they have another product with oregano oil & other oils, but the oregano emulsion was the first & it less expensive. I used it a few years ago & just recently purchased a bottle to use again. YMMV

 

[U_Stormcrow]

YMMV - easier to spell than Caveat Emptor. TY @Cindy in PA